Aussie battler urged to keep cool head for Hibs cause

Nobody on the Hibs coaching staff is asking Lewis Miller to curb his natural aggression. In fact, Nick Montgomery would like to see some of the Aussie battler’s no-nonsense attitude rub off on a few of his less obviously fiery team-mates.

But the gaffer insists only learning to control his competitive instincts will allow Miller to fulfil his potential in the game. And that means cutting out the avoidable bookings for daft challenges, silly comments and unnecessary flare-ups.

The 23-year-old, who saw red for picking up back-to-back yellow cards in last month’s 2-1 away win over Dundee, was hooked at half-time in the weekend loss to St Johnstone. Partly because he was feeling ill – but also because he’d picked up a booking.

Montgomery, who has known Miller since his academy days with Central Coast Mariners, is constantly demanding more from a right back with the ability to go a long way in the game. And, pinpointing exactly what needs to change if the Sydney native is to become a reliable favourite at Easter Road, Monty declared: “It’s the bookings where you don’t really need to get booked.

“They all add up. But Lewis hasn’t played that many games in his career and he is still learning, so he just has to curb the unnecessary cards, so they don’t escalate into sending offs and suspensions. That’s the same for everybody.

“It is good to be aggressive - and we want more of that. We are an aggressive team, and we play the majority of the time with high intensity. But it’s about controlling that aggression and emotion.

“That’s a big part of the mentality of a top sports person. That’s something we try to work on; we give the players tools and give them help with that side of things to make sure they prepare for the game and can cope with the emotion no matter what situation presents itself.”

Confirming that Socceroos fullback Miller is healthy and back in consideration for the weekend trip to play Ross County in Dingwall, Montgomery said: “Lewis has been up and down. He has had his sending off, he had a little knock and last week he was sick, so I took him off at halftime. He was coughing and spluttering - and he was on the yellow card.

“So Lewis has to find that consistency. We know he can be a really strong player for us, but he has gone through a couple of weeks when not much has gone right for him. But he is back training this week and no doubt he will be champing at the bit to play this weekend.”